EU seeks ban on Arctic drilling for fossil fuels
Strategy aims to address environmental concerns and geopolitical tensions
Keep it in the (frozen) ground
The EU wants to ban any new oil, gas and coal production in the Arctic Circle and plans to make it illegal for member states to purchase any hydrocarbons produced from such projects, in a major push to get serious on tackling climate change in the high north, writes Henry Foy in Brussels.
The ambitious target that will headline the bloc’s new Arctic strategy to be unveiled today in Brussels comes as Europe finds itself in the midst of an energy crisis that many have blamed on a shortage of gas from Russia — a country with extensive Arctic hydrocarbon projects, some of which supply EU states.
The EU’s strategy, drawn up by the commission and the European External Action Service, seeks to marry environmental concerns and geopolitical tensions over the Arctic, which formally includes eight countries but has become a global issue as temperatures rise.
Finland, Sweden and Denmark — through Greenland — are Arctic EU members, but the bloc will need to convince the US, Canada, Iceland, Norway and Russia to join Brussels’ demand for a “legal obligation” to prevent new Arctic oil, gas and coal projects.
The US and Canada already ban offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, but Russia has been clear that it sees the warming north as an opportunity to expand its hydrocarbon exploration. The EU is indirectly involved: French energy company Total owns 16 per cent of Novatek, a Russian company that has one major gas project in the Arctic and is constructing a second.
“It will require diplomatic efforts and we are not naive about that,” Virginijus Sinkevicius, EU commissioner for environment, told Europe Express. “But we need to lead by example . . . Our call starts a very important debate.”
The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet and forest fires in Russia’s Arctic region are now an annual occurrence. But while some countries have warned about the threat of retreating ice, others see opportunities in it.
Russia has aggressively promoted the so-called Northern Sea Route — an Arctic shipping route from Europe to China shorter than via Suez and around India, and invested in a number of new military bases on their islands in the Arctic.
And cognisant that member state territory accounts for a small chunk of the total region, the EU’s strategy will aim to blend ambitious demands with offers of bloc competencies to the other stakeholders.
The EU will offer its sizeable research capabilities and, of course, deep pockets to promote “scientific diplomacy”, skirting around the complicated issue of, for example, partnering up with Russia in the snow and ice while sanctioning them for their actions on the sunny beaches of Crimea.
“It requires finding an agreement with countries where we don’t always have the easiest of relations,” admits Sinkevičius. “Ultimately climate change is going to affect all of us.”
“The Arctic is home to hundreds of thousands of Europeans,” he added.